Nearly two decades after troops first deployed to a former Soviet airbase in Uzbekistan veterans say was a source of significant toxic exposures, members of Congress are moving to provide care and benefits for the ill veterans and families of those who have died.
House and Senate lawmakers introduced the K2 Veterans Care Act on Thursday, which aims to provide a presumption of service-connected illness for veterans who served at the airbase, qualifying them for Department of Veterans Affairs care and benefits. Rep. Mark Green, R-Tennessee, and Steven Lynch, D-Massachusetts, introduced the bill in the House and Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Bob Menendez of New Jersey, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, introduced a companion bill in the Senate.
More than 15,000 veterans who served at a secret, repurposed Soviet-era airbase in Karshi-Khanabad, Uzbekistan known as "K2," may have been exposed to dangerous levels of radiation and other hazards, including "black goo" oozing up from the ground. Now, nearly two decades later, Congress is pushing for those veterans to receive care and benefits from VA.
Documents declassified in 2020 showed the Department of Defense knew service members were exposed to multiple toxic substances or hazardous materials at the base at the onset of the War on Terror that later led to cancers and other severe or fatal health conditions.
But the Department of Veterans Affairs has continually denied many of those veterans care and benefits.
Green flew through K2 during his Army service and is himself a cancer survivor -- cancer he attributes to his exposure to burn pits on deployments. He's led several legislative efforts on behalf of K2 veterans.
"The presumption of service connection is the crucial piece of the puzzle to ensure America’s K2 veterans receive healthcare and benefits reflective of their service and sacrifice," Green told Connecting Vets. "For over two decades, these veterans have suffered from rare cancers and devastating illnesses linked to toxic exposure in Uzbekistan. K2 veterans and their families have waited long enough for answers and care. Our bipartisan, bicameral legislation marks a significant step towards swift justice for America’s K2 veterans.”
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The declassified Pentagon documents showed the base was built on a foundation of dangerous levels of radiation. Defense officials estimated that more than 15,000 troops served at and may have been exposed at K2, or "Camp Stronghold Freedom." The U.S. military occupied the base from at least 2001-05 and it is currently home to the 60th Separate Mixed Aviation Brigade of the Uzbek Air Force. Defense officials have characterized the base as a crucial hub at the start of the war.
The base, constructed quickly above what turned out to be the remains of a former chemical weapons factory, was only recently added to an official toxic exposure registry after Congressional action, though veterans who served on the base, or their families, have shared stories of how they have sickened and died because of toxic exposure there. Those veterans reported symptoms from gastrointestinal illnesses and neurological disorders to rare cancers. They described "black goo" oozing up from the ground, glowing green ponds and large warning signs cautioning troops to keep out of areas on the base because of chemical agents.
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Legislation requiring more studies is key to formally link the exposures to potential illnesses veterans may experience, but it does little to help veterans ill and dying now, and continues to push the timeline for benefits decisions. Those continued delays are echoes of Vietnam-era veterans, some of whom still struggle to receive benefits for exposure to Agent Orange and other toxic defoliants. Frustration in Congress has grown in recent years, as excuses of cost and capacity for VA continue to roadblock progress.
K2 veterans and surviving family members testified before Congress a year ago, saying they knew of at least 400 people diagnosed with cancers after serving at the base, and at least 30 who had died.
Military researchers found the soil K2 was built on had "elevated levels of volatile organic compounds and total petroleum hydrocarbons were detected at numerous locations throughout Stronghold Freedom, including in a tent city, eastern expansion area and adjacent to the aircraft maintenance facility," according to a 2001 health assessment.
Even the air at K2 was dangerous, according to the report, which found the ambient air around the base the "main exposure pathway of concern for environmental contaminants.
"Inhalation of vapors from exposed, subsurface fuel contaminated soils could potentially cause adverse health effects to personnel at Stronghold Freedom," the report said.
A 2002 report recommended Defense Department personnel not dig in the soil "contaminated with jet fuel" though the same areas were, at least at one time, covered in tents service members lived in and aircraft hangars they worked in, according to the Pentagon documents.
Former VA spokeswoman Christina Noel said last year the department had obtained the Defense Department's roster of K2 personnel and had launched a study of the health outcomes of veterans who served there, but initial results are not expected for another 11 months.
The Defense Department conducted an initial study of cancers among troops deployed to K2, which found a higher risk of "malignant melanoma and neoplasms of the lymphatic and hematopoietic tissues (not including Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Leukemia)." VA dismissed those findings, arguing they were based on "only a few cases of each type of cancer and should not be viewed as definitive evidence of an association with service at K2."
Green and Lynch previously partnered on a Congressional investigation of the hazards of K2 and part of their legislation was included in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, directing the Defense Department to conduct a more comprehensive study on K2 toxic exposures. Green's office also worked with Pentagon officials and the Trump administration on an executive order signed by the former president on his final day in office, directing the secretary of Defense to designate Uzbekistan as a combat zone for the purposes of medical care qualification.
The Department of Veterans Affairs website lists several hazardous exposures veterans of K2 may have encountered, including:
- Jet fuel that soaked the ground, leaking from a Soviet-era underground jet fuel distribution system;
- Volatile organic compounds from "jet fuel vapors that did not exceed military exposure guidelines or other health exposure criteria," according to VA;
- Depleted uranium from the Soviet missles stored and destroyed at K2, contaminating the ground;
- Particulate matter and dust, a common hazard for all troops who served in the Southwest Asia theater of operations;
- Asbestos in roof tiles and dirt;
- Lead-based paint at the K2 one-stop, in-processing center.
"Environmental assessments also confirmed the absence of chemical warfare agents and ionizing radiation on K2," according to VA.
VA encourages veterans to file a disability claim if they believe they have health conditions related to their K2 service, adding that the claims "are decided on a case-by-case basis" since the department has no existing presumptive conditions related to the base.
Despite the many reports of veterans with severe health conditions, or those who have died because of their K2 exposures, Army documents discourage K2 veterans from seek medical screenings.
"You do not need to get a medical examination or have additional medical screenings just because you were at K2," a fact sheet from the Army Public Health Center reads, though it advises service members concerned about deployment-related conditions to speak to primary healthcare providers and veterans to file disability claims.
"There are no specific health recommendations related to a deployment at K2," the Army document reads. "In general, you can reduce your risk of developing medical conditions and experiencing injuries by following a healthy lifestyle."
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Reach Abbie Bennett: abbie@connectingvets.com or @AbbieRBennett.
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